Google Promises Ethical Principles to Guide Development of Military AI
May 31st, 2018Update: Leaked Emails Show Google Expected Lucrative Military Drone AI Work to Grow Exponentially
Via: The Intercept:
FOLLOWING THE REVELATION in March that Google had secretly signed an agreement with the Pentagon to provide cutting edge artificial intelligence technology for drone warfare, the company faced an internal revolt. About a dozen Google employees have resigned in protest and thousands have signed a petition calling for an end to the contract. The endeavor, code-named Project Maven by the military, is designed to help drone operators recognize images captured on the battlefield.
Google has sought to quash the internal dissent in conversations with employees. Diane Greene, the chief executive of Google’s cloud business unit, speaking at a company town hall meeting following the revelations, claimed that the contract was “only” for $9 million, according to the New York Times, a relatively minor project for such a large company.
Internal company emails obtained by The Intercept tell a different story. The September emails show that Google’s business development arm expected the military drone artificial intelligence revenue to ramp up from an initial $15 million to an eventual $250 million per year.
In fact, one month after news of the contract broke, the Pentagon allocated an additional $100 million to Project Maven.
The internal Google email chain also notes that several big tech players competed to win the Project Maven contract. Other tech firms such as Amazon were in the running, one Google executive involved in negotiations wrote. (Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.) Rather than serving solely as a minor experiment for the military, Google executives on the thread stated that Project Maven was “directly related” to a major cloud computing contract worth billions of dollars that other Silicon Valley firms are competing to win.
The emails further note that Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing arm of Amazon, “has some work loads” related to Project Maven.
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Tell me another one.
Via: The Verge:
Google is drawing up a set of guidelines that will steer its involvement in developing AI tools for the military, according to reports from The New York Times and Defense One. What exactly these guidelines will stipulate isn’t clear, but Google told the Times they will include a ban on the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry. The principles are expected to be announced in full in the coming weeks. They are a response to the controversy over the company’s decision to develop AI tools for the Pentagon that analyze drone surveillance footage.
Footsteps, Pressure Sensors, and AI: The Next Step in Airport Security
May 31st, 2018Via: EETimes:
The University of Manchester’s school of electrical and electronic engineering, in collaboration with the University of Madrid, has developed a behavioral biometric verification system that can measure a human’s individual gait or walking pattern, enabling successful identification of a person simply as they walk on a pressure pad in the floor and analyzing the footstep’s 3D and time-based data.
With this system, the researchers claim that the way a person walks and analysis of that individual’s footsteps could be used as a biometric at airport security instead of fingerprinting and eye-scanning, providing a non-intrusive method of identity verification.
The results, published in a machine-learning research journal, the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), earlier this year showed that, on average, the AI system developed correctly identified an individual almost 100% of the time, with just a 0.7% error rate.
Russian Investigative Journalist Killed in Kiev – Update: Arkady Babchenko Is Alive
May 29th, 2018Update: Suspects Linked to Ukrainian Intelligence
Woopsee.
Via: Daily Mail:
The Ukrainian government’s faked assassination of an anti-Putin journalist has raised more questions after one of the would-be killers was revealed to be a well-known Russia-hating former monk.
Boris L. German, 50, appeared in court accused of hiring former monk Oleksiy Tsimbalyuk to carry out the killing of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko. Tsimbalyuk is alleged to have reported the alleged hit to Ukrainian counter intelligence, the SBU.
Yet Facebook pictures of Tsimbalyuk in the uniform of Right Sector, a Ukrainian ultranationalist that the Kremlin portray as a neo-Nazi group, and as a former deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has cast doubt on Putin’s involvement.
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Update: Staged His Death in Coordination with Ukrainian Police
Via: Guardian:
Arkady Babchenko, the Russian journalist who was reported to have been shot dead in Kiev, has turned up alive at a news conference in Ukraine.
Babchenko emerged at a police press conference on Wednesday afternoon in front of journalists who had been expecting updates on the investigation into his murder.
Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian security service, told reporters the agency had faked Babchenko’s death to catch people who were trying to kill him.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian police had said Babchenko, a Kremlin critic and veteran Russian war correspondent, was shot three times in the back as he left his apartment to buy bread. A government official told the media that Babchenko, 41, had died in the ambulance to the hospital.
But on Wednesday, officials said Babchenko staged his death in coordination with Ukrainian police as part of an investigation into threats made against his life. The plan had been in place for more than a month.
Police said they had made one arrest in connection with the operation.
Speaking to journalists, Babchenko apologised, saying: “I have been forced to bury my friends and colleagues many times and I know the sickening feeling.”
Apparently he had not even told his closest family members about the plan.
“Special apologies to my wife, Olechka, there was no other option,” Babchenko said to a room of visibly stunned journalists. “The operation was under preparation for two months.”
It was not immediately clear how Babchenko faking his death led to the apprehension of the suspect.
According to Gritsak, Russian authorities had recruited a former fighter in east Ukraine by offering him $30,000 for the killing.
Wearing a black hoodie and shuffling slightly as he spoke, Babchenko concluded: “I’ve done my work. I’m still alive for the moment.”
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Via: BBC:
Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko has died after being shot near his home in Kiev, Ukrainian police say.
Mr Babchenko, 41, was found bleeding at the entrance to his block of flats by his wife and died in an ambulance.
After writing about a crashed Russian military plane in 2016, Mr Babchenko said he received death threats and left his home country.
He first moved to Prague and later to the Ukrainian capital. He was an outspoken critic of the Kremlin.
Gene-Edited ‘Super-Crops’ to be Grown in UK for First Time
May 29th, 2018Via: Telegraph:
Gene-edited super-crops are to be sown in Britain in a European-first after scientists exploited a legal loophole.
The Government has quietly approved the farming of gene-edited (GE) Camelina oilseed crops as part of a trial to super-charge the plants to produce Omega 3 fish oils, one of the most popular food supplements.
The pilot was approved because, unlike genetically modified (GM) plants, the Camelina oilseed crops contain no foreign DNA. Instead, they had their genetic code altered in a way that could have happened naturally.
Scientists say gene-editing can cut the time it takes to engineer new plants from decades to months. They argue embracing the new technology is vital if Britain is to benefit from GE crops and help maintain a sustainable source of fish oils in face of depleted ocean stocks
The trial starts as the European Court of Justice prepares to decide whether GE plants can be legally treated as if they were conventional crops across the EU.
Critics, however, accused Defra (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) of pre-empting a decision by the court which could end up requiring GM-style regulation of GE crops.
The UK trial of the GE Camelina oilseed plants is being done in collaboration with a French team because the French government has barred release of genetically-altered plants in the environment for research.
California: Digital License Plates Track Vehicles
May 28th, 2018Via: Sacramento Bee:
California’s dramatic new license plate is hitting the streets — a digital display board that allows changeable messages controlled by the driver or remotely by fleet managers.
The new plates use the same computer technology as Kindle eBook readers, along with a wireless communication system.
They come with their own computer chips and battery.
20 Years Of Socialist Utopia In Venezuela Summed Up In 20 Seconds
May 27th, 2018Via: ZeroHedge:
This is the result of almost 20 years of socialist revolution in Venezuela. A sad reality. #Chavismo #May22
pic.twitter.com/vS58mxF8hj— Michael Welling (@WellingMichael) May 22, 2018
In Japan, a Buddhist Funeral Service for Robot Dogs
May 27th, 2018Via: National Geographic:
A traveler happening upon a funeral for robot dogs might be taken aback.
Is this a performance art statement about modern life? Is it a hoax? A practical joke?
But this is actually a religious ceremony, and the emotions expressed by the human participants are genuine.
Not The Onion: Knives Too Sharp in Britain
May 27th, 2018Via: Telegraph:
A judge has proposed a nationwide programme to file down the points of kitchen knives as a solution to the country’s soaring knife crime epidemic.
Last week in his valedictory address, retiring Luton Crown Court Judge Nic Madge spoke of his concern that carrying a knife had become routine in some circles and called on the Government to ban the sale of large pointed kitchen knives.
Microsoft Wins Lucrative Cloud Deal with Intelligence Community
May 27th, 2018Via: Bloomberg:
Microsoft Corp. said it’s secured a lucrative cloud deal with the intelligence community that marks a rapid expansion by the software giant into a market led by Amazon.com Inc.
The deal, which the company said Wednesday is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, allows 17 intelligence agencies and offices to use Microsoft’s Azure Government, a cloud service tailored for federal and local governments, in addition to other products Microsoft already offers, such as its Windows 10 operating system and word processing programs.
Tesla Flies in New Battery Production Line for Gigafactory
May 25th, 2018Balls to the wall 24/7.
Besides the normal Model S and X and energy products output, there’s the Model 3 ramp, the single 50,000 unit Powerwall order from Australia, an as yet undisclosed 1+GWH battery project and the looming Semi.
I’ve been in the queue for a Powerwall 2 since December 2017. #learningpatiencewithtesla
Via: Reuters:
Tesla Inc has flown six planes full of robots and equipment from Europe to California in an unusual, high-stakes effort to speed up battery production for its Model 3 electric sedan, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week.
Transporting equipment for a production line by air is costly and hardly ever done in the automotive industry, and the move underscores Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk’s urgency to get a grip on manufacturing problems that have hobbled the launch of the high-volume Model 3 and pushed Tesla’s finances deep into the red.
“As usual with Tesla, everything is being done in a massive hurry and money seems to be no obstacle,” said one of the two sources.
Tesla on Friday declined to comment on whether it has shipped in any new production equipment from Europe.
